Downtown Detroit lands Silicon Valley tech firm

DETROIT (AP) -- Founders of a website that aggregates top-rated professionals on Facebook have announced they're moving the company from San Francisco into the Madison Building in downtown Detroit.

Stik.com co-founders Jay Gierak and Nathan Labenz made the announcement Tuesday. Both were classmates of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, and created the website after graduating in 2010.

Labenz tells MLive.com "downtown Detroit is developing something special" and Stik.com is eager to grow "with some of the best tech talent in the country."

The Madison Building has been redeveloped as an entrepreneurial tech hub. It was purchased in January 2011 by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures investment company.

Gilbert says in the release the move will further strengthen the city's tech environment and downtown Detroit.